Consent is A-sexy and Required: Healthy Relationships with Asexual and Aromantic People (Panel)

This panel was part of  the line-up of Pride Week 2017 events, and considers what healthy relationships look like when centering asexual and aromantic identities. The ace and aro community face high levels of sexual violence and corrective rape, and this panel seeks to amplify their voices in the discussion because their community is so often invisible and stigmatized. The event primarily centers around a panel of self-identified ace and aro community members who speak about their experiences with relationships, consent, and ace/aro awareness. However, the event aims to benefit anyone of any sexual orientation or gender hoping to be better equipped with tools to establish and maintain healthy relationships.

The panel’s learning objectives were for participants to:

1. Gain knowledge of different attractions, and a more comprehensive understanding of consent in all it’s forms, platonic, sexual, romantic, and familial.
2. Gain knowledge and break down myths and misconceptions of asexual and aromantic folk and how stigma plays in the invisibility of this community.
3. Receive skills related to building healthy relationships look and how to engage in healthy relationships in their lives, including defining consent for themselves and having conversations about it in all of their relationships.
4. Gain knowledge about amatonormativity and how it plays out in their lives.

Questions asked of the panelists included:

1. What kind of process did you go through to discover your sexual/romantic identity and have you ever experienced issues with expressing yourself as part of the ace/aro spectrum?
2. What kind of issues have you had with other members of the queer community regarding your asexuality/aromanticism? Do you feel welcome there?
3. If applicable, how did your partner(s) react to your asexual/aromantic identity? Or what do you think are the biggest obstacles for ace/aro people in relationships? What are things that seem to be easier?
4. If there was one thing you wish you could tell your younger self in regards to healthy relationships, what would that be?
5. How do you approach issues of consent with friends, family, and partner(s)?

Panelists: Lia/Ezra Myers, Maggie O’Rourke-Liggett, Ceph Poklemba, Mitchell Smith-Long, and Lee Wilcox
Moderator: Elijah Stucki
Date: April 25, 2016
Location: Native American Longhouse Eena Haws

Watch the Full Recording of “Consent is A-sexy” Here

This event was part of OSU’s Pride Week 2017